This Month, We Tend To The Unfair Camaro's Wiring, Including Its Traction Control System.

This month's story about the Project Unfair '69 Camaro is going to look different, because big stuff like the body modification and suspension installation are done. Well, almost done. It's time to figure out all the initial-wiring and plumbing fabrication. It's time to look at some of the small stuff. According to Frank Serafine, owner of Prodigy Customs, "Many first-time builders go straight to paint after getting the body modifications squared away. That's a mistake, because wiring and plumbing requires lots of drilling and welding. It's really a lot better to figure all that out before the bodywork gets done."

2/25

John Parsons, Frank's partner in the project (and owner of II Much Fabrication) specializes in high-end wiring, plumbing, and exhaust, and so this month's action takes place at John's small shop across town.

John and Frank are building the wiring system around a 12V Braille lithium battery, the ML30. It has a staggering 1,300 cranking amps, but weighs less than 10 lbs. Lithium is the newest technology for high-end batteries, and Braille pioneered it for racing teams around the country. Lithium charges faster and maintains higher voltage under load than traditional batteries. That will allow the Holley Dominator EFI to see a solid 12V for the coils and injectors while the starter is cranking the engine. EFI controllers get unhappy when voltage drops below 10V during cranking. Some builders resort to running dual batteries, but the Braille should handle all of it with ease.

3/25

Unfair is using Holly's new Dominator EFI for engine management. Its latest and best EFI controller yet, Holley learned a lot from the older Commander 950 EFI controller. All that is packed into the Dominator. Available now, it supports the native LSX cam and crank sensors, as well as direct support for GM's coils and injectors. Naturally, it supports a whole lot more than that, and we'll see more when we cover the engine build.

RaceLogic's traction control system will be used to keep the car moving forward instead of just sending the rear tires up in smoke. It works by using factory GM ABS wheel sensors to detect when the rear wheels are spinning faster than the fronts. It cuts engine power by dropping individual injector signals so there isn't any fuel to burn in a particular cylinder in that revolution. The cut signal moves around to keep the engine from missing too badly until traction is restored. The ABS controller is from a late-model Corvette Z06. It incorporates a steering-angle sensor, yaw sensor, brake-pedal sensors, and line-pressure sensors, along with the wheel sensors it shares with the RaceLogic box.

4/25

All these components will be integrated with American Auto Wire's (AAW) Highway 22 master panel and accessories. The Highway 22 is so-named because it supports 22 separate circuits, plenty for project Unfair, even with all the advanced features John and Frank have planned. Under the covers, the Highway 22 is wired with heavy-duty connectors and heavy gauge wires. As Mike Manning of AAW, put it, "The 22 is over-engineered, and could be used to power three cars. It's perfect for Unfair."

We're not going to show you a boring "connect this wire to that connector"-type article, but instead highlight some of the advanced techniques John used for bulkhead connectors, harness connections, system disconnects, box location, and wire routing.

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Admittedly, using an expensive lithium battery in Unfair seems a little ... unfair. It's half the size and a quarter the weight of a more traditional battery, but can still pump out 1,300 cranking amps. Lithium also maintains better voltage while under cranking load, which really helps the Dominator EFI controller out.

American Autowire's Highway 22 box is engineered with 8g internals, and can easily support all of the '69's needs. It has room for all the circuits, and has relays already in place for turn signals, horn and fuel pump. It has a highly reliable screw-in connection system so your circuits stay connected.

This is a Delphi 30 conductor Metri-Pack bulkhead connector. It can support up to 40A for some of its circuits. It will be used for the headlights and their covers, starter, cooling fans and other high amperage circuits.

Holley's new Dominator EFI does everything you can think of in a single box...

...It's got all the EFI features you can think of, including dual wideband O2 sensors, drive-by-wire throttle body, dual injectors per cylinder, direct coil ignition, native LSx sensors, tons of sensor recording, direct display output, and much more. All those features need a whole bunch of wires to connect to that big brain.

ididit has a new fob-based pushbutton ignition we'll be installing in this '69 Camaro.

Here are the main components of the Molex XRC bulkhead system. The connectors can support 31 conductors of 13A apiece.

Crimping a wire is easy with the Molex specialty crimper. First the barrel is loaded into the loader.

Then the loader is swung into position, the wire inserted is inserted and crimped. It is important to strip the correct length since the crimp is both on the bare wire and the insulator.

Once properly crimped, the connector is installed by hand by pushing it into place from the back side of the connector body.

The whole connector is then pushed through a 1 11/16 hole and held in place with a rubber washer and jam nut.

The other half of the connector connects via a keyed alignment and a quarter turn of the locking ring. The F-body will need three of the 31 conductors' connectors on the firewall, and two more on the rear firewall for the fuel pump, rear lights, and wheel sensors.

Here are all the pieces in a Metri-Pack connector, including the connector bodies, strain reliefs, pin and sleeve, and silicon seals.

Just like with the Molex connector, a proper crimp is essential. This tool crimps the wire connection and seal in one step.

Here's a proper crimp, ready for insertion into the connector body.

The wire/seal/connector are inserted into the back of the connector body until it clicks into place.

The strain relief is inserted last.

Here's the fully-connected assembly ready for years of service, while still allowing quick and easy disconnection for car maintenance.

Turning our attention to attaching the various boxes to the car's sheetmetal, John doesn't like sheetmetal screws: "They only work a few times before stripping out, they cause injuries or rip your clothes on the other side of the panel, and they look like crap." John uses rivet nuts instead. You can see the installation tool, the hole in the sheet metal, and the rivet nut insert (the gold cad-plated slug).

Installation is done with two wrenches: one to hold the body square to the metal and the other to draw the insert into place.

Properly installed, here's how the insert looks from the back side. Now the sheetmetal has a good-looking, secure, and reliable machine thread.

Using rivet nuts lets you use attractive and long-lasting hardware, like this stainless and Delrin screw and washer combination.

Grouping individual wires into harnesses is usually done with cut loom, tape, or a whole bunch of tie wraps. Here's a small four wire harness and connector with wires that need some organization.

John likes to use nylon mesh tubing to collect all the wires going parallel. He feels it makes for an easy way to group wires together without the lumpiness of tire wraps, or the time and expense of tape or split loom. To keep the end of mesh from fraying, a short piece of shrink-wrap tubing is used. John says, "Organizing your harness with mesh and shrink wrap takes planning. You have to put it together as you go. If you wait until you're done, all your connectors are too big to run.